1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crib sheet with special sheet construction and means for securing it onto a crib mattress. One aspect of the invention relates to a safety crib sheet having an elastic retaining seam with adjustable and releasable fasteners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The predominate crib sheet of the prior art consists of a sheet of fabric covering the top of the crib mattress and held on the mattress by sheet corners that have elastic sewn into their corners. Independent studies such as those conducted by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) have confirmed that even an infant of twelve pounds can pull off most of the prior art crib sheets from the mattresses they cover. The Textiles department of the Good Housekeeping Institute, which is an independent testing laboratory confirmed in their November 1998 issue that most of the crib sheets manufactured today will not fit properly after as few as five washings. Since 1973 all manufacturers of crib mattresses, sold in the United States, have had to conform to a size standard, but this is not the case when pertaining to crib sheets, as there are no set standards. The greatest danger of a crib sheet that has shrunk, or which was too small to begin with, is they easily pop off the corners of the mattress. This can lead to tragic situations wherein a child can become entangled amidst the unraveled sheet.
There is an obvious great need for a crib sheet that cannot be easily pulled off the mattress by the child. There are many attempts to provide a solution to this problem. Various types of fasteners have been suggested including zippers, buttons, releasable fasteners, hook and loop types as marketed under the trade name "velcro". Parents must be able to purchase a crib sheet with peace of mind that the crib sheet will be safe. All the problems that exist with contoured corners of the prior art sheets, such as shrinkage, variations in size from one supplierto another, shoddy materials, and improper manufacturing techniques have created a long felt need for a safer crib mattress sheet. The present invention introduces an improvement and a solution for the above problems.
A patent that teaches the use of a pillow type encasement over a pad is U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,540 issued to Culver et al. on Jul. 1, 1997. One embodiment of Culver et al. discloses a cover configured to encase a pad (possibly a mattress) and discloses a button type fastener, but they also suggest that a hook and loop fastener, such as Velcro, could also be used. In the claimed embodiment, he teaches the folding of a flap underneath the sheet panel, thus having a mattress cover without any fasteners. This also will allow the pad to be reversible. Whereas this patent refers primarily to a playpen, it is appreciated that it could apply to crib mattresses as well. The key to this patent is that the cover takes the form of an encasement style cover. What this patent lacks, and which is the most important feature of the present invention, is having an elastic means sewn into an area of close proximity to the perimeter of the encasement opening to keep the sheet covering tight about the mattress. Once the sheet has been pulled over the mattress in the present invention, the encasement opening decreases significantly for safety purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,410 issued to Schaechter on Oct. 22, 1996, teaches the use of hook and loop fasteners to provide a quick fastening method for a pillow case. These type of fasteners are used for their superior holding strength.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,371 issued to Hahn on Mar. 24, 1987, depicts the hook and loop fasteners on the corners of the sheet. This is the conventional method of the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,902 issued to Lewis on Jul. 11, 1995, teaches the construction of a pillow case which utilizes a closing flap having hook and loop fastening means to secure the flap to the bottom panel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,488,323, 3,832,743 and 3,066,323 issued to Colburn, Smith and Kintner respectively, are suggestive of numerous attempts to use hook and loop fasteners to secure covers to mattresses.
None of the above inventions and Patents, taken either singly or in combination, is given to describe the instant invention as claimed, especially as the instant invention teaches the use of an elastic about the encasement opening of the sheet.